Some people call blogging a journey, and if that is true then it is a journey with a lot of false starts, wrong turns, and dead ends.
When a new blogger hits a dead end they don’t know where to go. They feel lost, and very often then simply end their journey right there. But just because you can’t see where to go next doesn’t mean you should give up.
When I feel like I’ve hit a dead end I am tempted to just slouch down in my chair and stare at the Twitter stream until I decide to go to bed. Believe me I’ve done it more than once in the past, and of course it gets me nowhere. So instead of throwing away hours of productive time I started using that time to my advantage instead.
Here are 4 tips for finding your way out of a blogging dead end.
Brainstorm New Post Ideas
Mind mapping an amazingly productive brainstorming technique. Try creating a mind map of 50 new post ideas and look for ways to interlink them into short series.
50 posts might sound like a lot but once you get the first few ideas rolling the rest can come quite easily.
I use the free version of Xmind to create mind maps.
Re-Assess Monetization
Quite a lot of people start blogs to make money but then get so busy blogging and networking that they forget to optimize their monetization.
When I’m in a rut or just too tired to come up with new content I’ll take a look at my ads, affiliate promotions, and other streams and see what is and isn’t working. When you take a look at these with fresh eyes once in a while often you will spot problems or improvements to make.
Test Processes
I have a regular blog maintenance schedule but I also use the times when I feel stuck to just test out one or more of the processes on my blogs.
For example I will sign up to a mailing list and make sure it is working, and that the confirmation email and autoresponder messages are still working and contain valid information. Contact forms and backups are also good to test during these times.
Traffic Analysis
I try and avoid stats addiction by not spending hours in Google Analytics every day, but on those days when nothing is coming out of me I’ll dive deeper into the stats and look for anything interesting.
I like to see whether traffic is still growing or plateauing, whether the growth is from search engines or referring sites, any posts doing unusually well/poorly that I can improve on, or which forums/networks are sending me best traffic in case I need to increase my presence there.
Over to You
So what about you? Do you ever hit those dead ends and find yourself struggling to create something new. What do you do to keep from wasting those hours?
Image Credit: Flickr
About Paul Cunningham
I remind myself that I live in a universe that is practically infinite (even if not absolutely so) – this gets me unstuck and able to look around – and I can then find something to write about.
Also breaking the body set by moving or going for a walk helps.
Hi Evan, definitely agree with the physical activity tip. That can help a lot. Regular exercise and a generally active lifestyle tends to keep the creative juices flowing nicely.
I like your ideas. I’m a stats junkie, so see it as a guilty, unproductive pleasure when I do indulge, but the way you presented it shows that as long as I use stat viewing to focus on key questions, then it can actually be productive.
Today, when I was in the blogging doldrums I checked for broken links and proofread some old posts. I find doing lots of “little” things makes me feel more productive
Broken links and proof reading, two great ideas!
I do not think it is just new bloggers, I’ve been doing this for two years now and I still hit deadends and get burnt out on an almost monthly basis.
I find a little bit of a break can help fuel the mind again. If I am really stuck I will have agander at other blogs in my niche and see if I can get some ideas from them. I don’t think that is a bad thing, alhough a lot of people do.
If I’m stuck for ideas sometimes I will actively seek out a blog post I disagree with just to write a rebuttal of sorts.
Great ideas Paul. I think we all can get in a “what do I do next” funk. Taking a break, like one of your readers suggested, is a great idea too. Hop over to a coffee shop and read a book or magazine…something completely out of your niche can be a good way to get ideas (or so I’m told!) :)
I think doing some maintenance can be a great use of that time. Or checking out new plug-ins, anything more administrative-related is going to use different parts of your brain.
My daughter taught me how to check for # of subscribers in my feeds today (actually she taught both of us) and it was a pleasant surprise to see how many people are visiting my site from their readers. Little boosts like that can definitely help.
Good thing about flipping through magazines is that they teach you a lot about good copy and headlines too. May as well learn something even when you’re taking some down time.
Very useful blog! I realized that I can afford a blog if I’m researching a certain knowledge and sharing it by blogging. I can learn and share it with others into an specialized area of knowledge of my choice. It allows to build a database of subscriber and monetize it every time. Thanks!!!